


Andrew's Decisions

by LonelyAgain



Series: Diary of a Dislocated Knife-ear [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Blackmail, Drabble, F/M, Side Story, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 11:45:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7266850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyAgain/pseuds/LonelyAgain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some minor side things from Andrew's point of view (Not first person)  Things may be rearranged to suit the "official" order of things.  I'll let you know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Andrew's Responsibilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first real meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of Day 22 of Dislocated Souls. It didn't QUITE go how Garalen told Chrissy.

He knew he’d made her unhappy when he called her name.  She’d paled.  Had no one outside of Ethelathe known who she was?  Anyway, it was his fault people knew who she was now.  And having been outed so publicly, and under such circumstances, he knew she was in danger.

He gathered his weapons from his tent and walked out to the cottage.  It was his responsibility, after all.  He ran off the two young recruits trying to sneak toward Ethelathe.  All it took was a growl and being seen.  When he got there, Chrissy was sleeping in front of the door.  And there was an angel sitting next to her.  

The angel pulled daggers out of nowhere and challenged him softly.  “Why are you here, Templar?” she demanded, and everything in him tightened.

He smiled.  This was going to be fun.  “I’m here to protect her,” he said, pointing at Chrissy.

“I’m protecting her.”

“From mages?  Your daggers are mighty, pretty one, but won’t have any effect against a fireball.”  He knew just how to piss off a pretty woman.  And he loved him a riled up woman.  He spread his feet a bit and crossed his arms, looking relaxed.

“And you’d protect her?” she hissed.

“I would.”  He uncrossed his arms and took a few steps forward.  The pretty elf readied her daggers.  He took one more step and placed one hand to the right of her head.  She could escape, easily, but she’d have to climb over Chrissy to do so.  He felt a dagger kissing the underside of his chin, and smiled.  He leaned forward, just a bit.  He felt the sting from his chin, a single drop of blood falling to the snow.  He took a deep breath, smelling lavender and sunshine and metal.  He still took the moment to whisper in her ear.  “I’m staying.  Do I get to sleep next to you, pretty one?  Or am I on the other side of Chrissy?”

He heard her swallow.  “Over there.”

He chuckled, and moved to sit against the wall.  No one was going to get to Ethelathe, or Chrissy tonight.  Or his lady.  She didn’t know it yet, but she was going to be his.


	2. The Hunter Becomes the Halla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garalen turns the tables.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 30, when Chrissy and Garalen confront him in the evening.

The guys had laid down an annulment, but he knew everyone’d be fine. They weren’t mages, so it shouldn’t affect them. He heard a knock on his tent pole.  Chrissy’s voice sang out.  “Andrew?”

“Just a moment,” he said.  He ruffled his hair a little bit, styling it with flair, and checked himself in his shaving mirror.  There was always the possibility that SHE was with Chrissy.  He stepped out of the tent and came face to face with his angel.  And she was ANGRY.

Chrissy invited him to walk with her, and his angel trailed behind.  The back of his neck prickled and he kept remembering her daggers.  He’d seen her throwing them at a stump the day before.  She never missed.  Thinking maybe something was wrong, Andrew asked Chrissy if she was okay as soon as they were out of earshot of the other Templars.  He’d heard about what happened, but had been only minimally concerned.

“I’m not sure if I can trust you,” said Chrissy.  “How much did you know.”  She’d practically growled at him! 

“Nothing!” he got out.  Too loud.  “Nothing.  Ahead of time.  I wouldn’t do that to you.  Anyway, you’re not a mage.” He said this more quietly.

“Apparently not,” Chrissy retorted tartly, “since I’m still conscious and breathing.”  She demanded to know how many people thought she was a mage.  He told her that Varric Tethras had been running book at the tavern.  Lots of people lost money today. 

“Poor babies,” cooed his angel.  He turned to see her closing in on him.  He knew she was getting revenge for the other night.  She asked him if they could look at the book in a breathy bedroom voice.  She ran a hand down her side, fluttering her fingers over the side of her breast as she went.  He swallowed hard, eyes following.

“Talk to Flyssa?” he stuttered.  He jerked his eyes back to hers.  She met his gaze, keeping it, stepping into his space, almost chest to chest.  She ran her fingers down his face, tracing one ear and lightly grazing the small scar under his chin.  The one she'd given him.  He swallowed again, his eyes dilating and his breathing quickened.  This woman was going to be the death of him!  She purred something at him, and he said he didn’t know who did it.  Then he shook his head.  “She’s fine, right?”

“They didn’t know she would be,” his lady breathed almost in his ear.  She trailed her fingers down his jaw, brushing his lip, and ran her hand down his chestplate.  His body reacted predictably.  “We’ll see you later, Templar man,” she said, and he got out of there. 

He reached his tent and leaned his head against the pole. God, Maker, whoever, she had just sealed her fate.  She was going to be HIS.


	3. Andrew's Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The initial bargain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of Day 32, in the afternoon. When Garalen gets Andrew because Chrissy fell.

She came running through the encampment.  His fellows ignored her, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her.  She was beautiful.  She ran like a halla.  She stopped in front of him, frantic. 

“You have to come.  She needs help.  Please come.”  She grabbed his hand, and tingles went up his arm at the contact.  He closed his eyes to savor it.  She jerked his arm, saying “Come ON!”

“Who needs help?  Where are we going?” he asked, as he allowed her to lead him away.

It was a short walk, and she pulled him at a fast pace.  Chrissy was laying in the snow, bleeding from the nose, apparently having fallen off the wall.  Andrew knew what Garalen wanted.  He ran his hands over Chrissy, checking for anything obviously broken.  Finding nothing, he picked her up and started for the healing tents.

“NO!” his angel cried.  “Ethelathe, we have to get her to Ethelathe.  She’d be so upset if she wakes somewhere other than home.”

Andrew looked down at the woman in his arms.  She was cold, she was bleeding, but she was breathing well and apparently otherwise unharmed.  There’d be no real issue with taking her home.  He looked at Garalen.  “If I do this, you owe me.”

“What?”

“You will owe me.  One request.  You do it, no questions.”  He kept a straight face, but he desperately wanted to grin at her.  He had her, and he knew it. 

She looked him warily.  “I can go get Feren.”

“By the time you get to the Forge and back, I’ll have her at the healing tents.  Yes, or no, Angel?”  He let his smile slip a bit before getting it back under control.

“Maferath’s balls!"  She spun around, giving a nice view of her rear.  He took the time to caress her with his eyes.

“And hairy ones they were, I’m sure.  What’s your answer?” he drawled, a hint of his Montana twang coming out.

She spun back around, improving the view yet again.  “Yes, and be you damned for it.”  She stamped her foot.  “Let’s GO!”

His lips curved, and he strode off with his precious burden.  The woman in his arms had become important the moment he met her.  She appealed to him as a friend, a companion.  However, the woman angrily stomping behind him appealed to him on every level a woman appealed to a man.  And now he had the means to get his foot in the door.  He just had to use it properly.


	4. Andrew's Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 37, while Chrissy was cleaning the middens.

She showed up right before they were going to sit down to eat, looking nervous.  “Can I talk to you, Templar man?  In private?”

He looked at her, then jerked his head toward a copse of trees.  “How about over there?”

She just smiled nervously. 

He led her, carefully, because she was more skittish than he’d ever seen her.  He stopped next to a tree, and she stopped next to him.  He turned abruptly and took a step toward her.  She squeaked and took a step back from him, which put her back up against the tree.  He took another step, so that she’d have to push him away to escape easily, but could still get away.  He didn’t want her feeling truly trapped.

“What do you want to talk about,” he asked, his face just six inches from hers.

“I, well, we, you know, all of us, at Ethelathe, want you to come to dinner.  And visit. For a while.  Just a few days.”

“A few days?” That got his attention.  His eyes narrowed.  “I could always come for a visit after dinner.”

“NO!”

“No?” he repeated.

“You can’t eat here.  You just can’t.  You have to come.  PLEASE.”  She looked desperate.

He looked back at his fellows, who were talking and laughing at the fire.  Returning his gaze to her, he put his bent arm on the tree next to her head and moved just that little bit closer.  He lowered his head, a scant inch away from her.  “I’ll go.”  She breathed a sigh of relief.  “On one condition.”  She tensed, searching his eyes warily. 

He gently brushed his stubbled cheek against hers, breathing in her ear.  “I want you to say my name,” he whispered.  She shivered.  “Say my name, and I’ll go with you.”  He moved to rub her other cheek, opening his mouth and deliberately blowing warm, moist breath over her other ear, brushing his lower lip along the slant of it.  “And if you let me kiss you, just one kiss, I won’t loudly ask why you don’t want me to eat the same food everyone else is eating.”

She inhaled sharply.  He chuckled, pulling back just slightly.  “Not quite as stupid a shem as you thought?”

“You’d resort to blackmail for a kiss?”  She looked adorably confused and wonderfully flustered.

“I’ll take anything you give me, anytime you want to give it to me.  Say my name.  I want to hear my name on your lips.”  He nearly groaned it rubbing his cheek across hers again.

“One kiss, Andrew.  Just one.”  He almost didn't hear it, she was so breathy.

He rested his forehead on hers and took a deep, calming breath.  “I love my name on your lips.”  He nuzzled her hair, calming himself further.

She raised her face, clearly expecting the pressure of his lips.  He moved back a hair, his lips barely a centimeter from hers.  “I have to get my bedroll,” he said, and backed up, smiling as she leaned toward him.  “Let’s go.”

The desire slowly cleared from her eyes.  “I thought you wanted a kiss?” she asked tartly.

“I do.”  He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward his tent.  “I’ll let you know when.”  She made the most wonderful frustrated sound as they walked, and laughed aloud.  He knew JUST how to piss off a pretty woman.  And he liked him a riled up woman.


	5. Everything's a bargain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garalen seems to ask him for help a lot, doesn't she. Now she wants someone muscular to help them move the Chantry board on day 40.

He was sparring with his friend Gunther when she came jogging up.  “Hey Templar man!” she called.  He finished the form, then sheathed his sword and removed his helmet.  Gunther winked at him and he smiled back, nodding.  Turning to where she was waiting, he took three strides to reach her and captured her lips with his, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her from her feet.  He strode away from his fellows, not breaking the contact he wanted so badly.

She struggled for a moment, hands flailing.  He didn’t remove his mouth from hers.  She tasted heavenly, just as an angel should taste. She gradually relaxed into him, one hand reaching up to twine in his hair.  He took advantage by backing her up to the wall along the road.

He broke the kiss, setting her down and putting one bent arm on each side of her head, only giving her scant inches of space between her lips and his.  It was the first time he’d actually trapped her, but she didn’t seem to mind.  He studied the dazed look in her eyes.  “That was my kiss.  Thank you,” he said softly, rubbing his cheek lightly against hers before moving his face in front of hers to capture her eyes again.

He chuckled.  “You did want something, didn’t you Angel?”  She nodded.  “Well, what was it?”

“Templar man…” He interrupted.

“Andrew.  If you want me, you have to use my name.”

She blushed.  He wanted to crow, knowing that in that moment, she did, indeed, want him.

She cleared her throat.  “Andrew…”

“Yes, Angel?” he rumbled against her jaw.  He could feel her getting herself together.

“Andrew!” she said, sharply.  He brought his face back in front of hers, smiling.

“What do you need, my flower?”  Her eyes started to glaze again, but she shook her head.

“Chrissy.  We need someone strong to help us move something,” she said.

“And you thought of me?”

“Well, you have,” she paused and glanced at his arm.  “You appear strong enough to help.”

He nodded.  “I have a condition.”

She sighed.  “You always do.”

“I want five minutes.”  He leaned in to graze his lips on her jaw.

“Five minutes? What do you mean?” she said, a hitch in her breath.

“I want five minutes where you kiss me, anywhere you want but you must spend at least two minutes on my lips.  And I want it today.”  He nipped at her chin.

“Today?” she squeaked.  He grinned against her other cheek.  He really liked the way she reacted to the way he talked with her.  “But usually you…” She stopped.

“Today.  As soon as we’re done.”  He rested his forehead on hers, looking into her eyes.

“You won’t help her just because?”

“If she’d come down here, I probably would have helped, yes, but she doesn’t make my armor uncomfortable like you do, my sweet.  I may have requested a meal, or a song.”  He moved back to her ear, rubbing his jaw against the tip.  She inhaled sharply.  Oooh, somebody LIKED that.  “But since you’re the one asking the favor, you’re the one I’m bargaining with.   And I want other things from you.”

She took a deep breath and gathered herself together.  He loved the fact that he flustered her so easily.  If he had his way, they’d never converse farther than three inches apart again.  “Five minutes of kissing, at least two on the lips.  And you won’t touch me without my permission?” She was so cute, trying to clarify the rules.

“Never.”

“Fine then,” she huffed.

He smiled, and let her up.  “Let’s go,” he said, and grabbed her hand.


	6. No backing out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garalen tries to back out of their bargain, but Andrew isn't having that.

He picked Chrissy up from the ground as he dropped the anti-magic bubble screen he’d created.  She really needed to figure out where her limits regarding magic were.  She did things he didn’t know COULD be done by a novice like her.  And interestingly enough, she pushed those around her to use what they had in new ways.  He never would have thought of an anti-magic shield applied in that fashion.  Should have, with the books he’d read in his youth.

What she truly needed was a teacher.  He’d look about.  He knew a few good mages, but they weren’t around here.  He was thinking so hard he almost missed what his angel was saying.  The woman was trying to back out of their little deal because of this!  He looked up at her, narrowing his eyes.

“I won’t allow you to break your promise to me,” he stated clearly, looking her square in the eyes.

“I have to attend Chrissy.  I can’t play with you right now.”

“Darling, what makes you think I’m playing?”  She sucked in a breath, and glared at him. 

Chrissy came to, and he set her down, slowly and carefully.  His angel was telling her what happened, trying to place the blame on him.  Chrissy stopped her with a gesture.  “Andrew, that was wonderful,” she said.  Garalen glared, and he grinned. 

He put the board back in place, Garalen trying desperately to help on the other side.  It was heavy, but it wasn’t like he had to lift the thing.  Shoving it about worked fine.

Chrissy played with the board for a moment, and they wandered their way inside.  He looked over at Garalen, who was studiously ignoring him.  He touched Chrissy’s arm.  “Do you think your people should keep their promises?” he asked.

And the trap sprang shut, just as he knew it would, when Chrissy responded emphatically in the affirmative.  He grinned, and Garalen whipped her head around to him and went pale, which only made him grin harder.  Chrissy was fine where she was, so he reminded Garalen of her promise, and escorted her outside. 

He went around to the side of the Chantry where they’d played with the board.  Leaning against the wall again, he splayed his legs, lowering his torso so she could reach him.  Legs spread, back against the wall, arms crossed, he cocked his head to the side for a moment and waited.  After a moment he arched his brow, looking at her.  “Chicken?”  He made a soft clucking noise.

“No!”  She took a deep breath and stepped between his legs.  She uncrossed his arms, and didn’t seem to know where to put them.  He placed them lightly on her hips, cocking an eyebrow.  She huffed out a breath.  Her arms gingerly stretched up and cupped his cheeks.  She leaned forward, but his face was just a little too high for comfort.  He spread his legs a bit further, sliding down the wall an inch.

The first press of her lips was lighter than the flutter of a butterfly.  He closed his eyes, savoring the tickling sensation.  She angled her head slightly, and pressed another, slightly harder kiss to his lips.  She grew bolder, sucking his lower lip slightly into her mouth and releasing it.  “Open your mouth,” she whispered, and he was happy to comply. 

The delicate sweep of her tongue set his veins on fire.  His hands tightened on her hips, but he didn’t move them.  He’d promised, too.  She deepened the kiss, and he cautiously returned it.  He didn’t want to take over.  Not yet.  Not until she asked him to.  Softly, softly, he was bringing his angel to his hand.  She slid her lips over his jaw, and he moved his head to give her better access.  He held his hands and upper body absolutely still as she trailed her mouth over his ear.  He let out a ragged breath when she delicately nipped, and he felt her smile against his neck.

As she returned to his lips, she seemed unsatisfied with his cautious response.  “Kiss me, Andrew,” she demanded, low and breathy.  He loved the sound of his name on her lips.

“Are you sure, Angel?” he asked, moving his head to nip at her chin. 

“I want you to kiss me like you want me.  Please,” she moaned. 

He slid his hands up her ribs.  Picking her up, he spun and pushed her against the wall.  She was almost a foot off the ground, but her legs came up around his hips and he groaned.  “Oh, I want you,” he whispered in her ear.  “Never doubt that,” he added, rubbing his face against her neck. He sucked at the curve where her neck met her shoulder, and trailed his lips to her jaw. 

“KISS ME!” she demanded, and he chuckled.  He moved his lips to hers, and TOOK.  He nibbled and sucked, plundering her mouth.  He wrapped his arms around her back and moved again, placing his shoulders against the wall.  He wanted to hold her.  He slid one hand to her fine ass, pulling her close.  Her hands moved into his hair, and they enjoyed each other’s lips for a while. 

He trailed open-mouth kisses to her ear.  She’d liked it when he brushed her ear, so he licked at the tip.  She shivered in his arms.  He grazed his teeth along it, and she moaned.  His body clenched.  He lost himself in her mouth for a moment, but pulled back.  This was NOT the place.  And she wasn’t ready.

He knew their time was probably well up.  He lightened the kisses, gently bringing her back from the haze of desire.  He put her down just as she realized she was completely in the air, wrapped around him, but before she could think of climbing off him.  He clasped her to him for one final ravaging kiss, and stepped back.

“We have to go check on Chrissy,” he said.  Her mouth worked, but no sound came out.  “And don’t forget you still owe me one request, no questions asked.”  That worked.  He suppressed a grin as the glaze drained out of her eyes and fury filled them.  Before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and said, “Let’s go get your friend.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have to change the rating of this soon. It's still teen right now, but... Anyway, we'll see.


End file.
